MS-HRC-SB-4-3

[1626] supposed ^presumed that he received from his numerous forbears, through
the agency of his papa and his mama, a cast-iron vegetative syst-
em, to have reached the ah^ge he has just reached and which is
nothing or very little compared to the age he will reach, as I
know to my cost, without any serious mishap, I mean one of a nature
to carry him off on the spot.

[1627] For no one ever came to his help, to
help him avoid the thorns and snares that attend the steps of
innocence, and he could never count on any other craft than his
own, any other strength, to go from morning to evening and then
from evening to morning without mortal hurt. [1628] And notably he never
received any gifts of cash, or very seldom, and very paltry, which
would not have mattered if he had been able to earn, in the sweat
of his brow or by making use of his intelligence.

[1629] But when given
for example the job of weeding a plot of young carrots for example,
at the rate of threepence or even sixpence an hour, it often
happened that he tore them all up, through absent-mindedness,

[1629] or carried away by I know not what furious ^irresistible urge that came over
him at the sight of vegetable^s, and even of flowers, and literally
blinded him to his true interests, the urge to make a clean sweep
and have nothing before his eyes but a patch of brown earth rid
of its parasites, it was often more than he could resist.

[1630] Or with-
out going so far as that, suddenly all swam before his eyes, he
could not no longer distinguish the plants destined for the
embellishment of the home or the nutrition of man and beast from
the weeds which are said to serve no useful purpose, but which
must have their usefulness too, for the earth to favour them so,